Joint



Patentes Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES JOINT George H. Huilerd and MatthewP. Graham, De-

troit, Mi

ch., assignors to Thompson Products Incorporated, Cleveland, Ohio,l acorporation of Ohio Application February 26, 1934, Serial No. 712,904

4 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to improvements .in joint constructions whichare particularly adapted for use in tie rod connections in automotivevehicles.

More specifically this invention relates to tie 5 rod jointconstructions in which friction is greatly reduced by the incorporationof anti-friction elements.

The invention will be described as incorporated .in a tie rodconnection, although it is to be un- ]0 derstood that the jointconstruction of this invention is capable of wide use in the mechanicalarts. l

It is an object of this invention to provide a joint-of the classdescribed composed of parts capable of. considerable relative angularmovement, and of free relative rotary movement'. A

Aspecic object of this invention is to provide a tie rod jointfor'independently mounted front wheel constructions in automotivevehicles permitting a high degree of non-uniform movement withoutbinding.

Another important object of this invention is to provide ananti-friction tie rod joint in which the various parts are automaticallyself-adjusting to compensate for wear.

Another object ofV this invention is to provide a trouble proof tie rodjoint for independently -mounted, or separately sprung front wheels ofautomotive vehicles capable of. transmitting forces without excessivefriction.

Another object of this-invention is toprovide a joint 'of the classdescribed having anti-friction roller or ball-bearing elements disposedbetween bearing surfaces of Lthe stud and housing and with auxiliarybearing surfaces arranged so as to operate in the event of failure ofthe ball or roller bearings, and also containing self-adjusting meanstocompensate for Wear andto prevent lost motion or rattling aftercontinued use.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description of theaccompanying sheet of drawing illustrating preferred embodiments of myinvention.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through an assembled jointconstruction according to .this 'invention andillustrating portionsthereof in elevation, l

5@ Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the lineII--II of Figure l.

Figure 3 is ya longitudinal vertical section through another form ofvassembled joint construction according to thlsinvention and illus-,

trating portions thereof in elevation.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the lineIV--IV of. Figure 3.

As shown on the drawing:

The reference numeral I0 indicates generally a housing member preferablyof forged metal, having a laterally extending shank portion ll integraltherewith and adapted to be inserted into a tie rod I2 or other hollowlink connection.

The shank il is threaded into the tie rod l2 and secured therein bymeans of a clamp I3. The end of the tierod I2 is preferably slotted asshown at M, to permit the clamp I3 to compress the tie rod end aroundthe shank.

The housing has a substantially cylindrical bore l5 therein, providednear the top thereof with a segmental spherical vbearing surface Itengageable 'with a segmental spherical bearing surfac I8 of .a seatelement ll.

The seat element Il is provided with a frustoconical bore having afrusto-conical bearing sur-- face i9, for cooperating, in spacedrelation therefrom, with the truste-conical bearing portion 2li of astud member il.

The Vfaustoconical bearing surface 2t of the stud member El may have apair of annular grooves it and 2t out therein for receiving a pluralityof ball-bearings 2d (Figures 1 and 2). The balls 2d rotate freely in thegrooves 22 and it and engage with the bearing surface it of the seatelement il.

The end of the stud 2i beneath the bearing portion 2d is provided with asegmental spherical surface 2t. A dished cap t6 having a sphericaldepressed portion 2l is' adapted to be inserted into the open end of thebore i5. 28 is placed over the dished cap 26 and the large open end ofthe housing is peened over as shown at 29 to hold the cover plate 28therein. A spring 30 is held under compression between the cap 2li andthe plate 28 for urging the depressed portion 2l of, the cap against thespherical end 2t of the stud member 2l. The stud memlzierA 2l extendsfreely through an opening 3| at the top of the housing i0 but isretained in the housing because of the tapered 'frusto-conical bearingportion 20.

From the above description it is evident that the stud member 2lisfreely movable about its own axis because of the free rotary actionpermitted by the ball-bearings 24, The stud tl is also freely tiltablethrough a wide angle by rea- `son of the freedom of relative movementbetween the seating element I Tand the bearing surface i6 of the housingmember. The stud is held in position by means of the spring-retained cap26. It is obvious that any usual type of A cover plate washers, caps orseals may be disposed over the opening 3i of the housing to prevent lossof lubrica'nt and ingress of dirt. In the event that the ball-bearings24 should 5 fail, the stud member would still have free rotatablemovement about its ownaxis on the frustoconical bearing surfaces 2l ofthe stud and i9 of the seat element and/or on the segmental sphericalsurfaces i8 of the seat element and I8 10 of the housing.

In Figures 3 and 4 is shown axmodication of our invention in whichanother form of antifriction means is used inthe same type of jointconstruction shown in Figures 1 and 2. Identical parts have been markedwith the same reference numerals.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the stud member 2| is provided with afrusto-conical bearing surface 35. Instead of the ball-bearings 24 shownin Figures 1 and 2, a plurality of roller bearings 36, mounted in acarriage 31, are fitted around the bearing portion 35 of the studmember. A seating element 38, having a relatively larger frusta-conicalbore than the seating mem- 25 ber I1 shown in Figures 1 and 2, providesa bearing surface 38a for the roller bearings 36. 'I'he seating element38 has an outside segmental I spherical surface I8 contacting thesurface I6 of the housing and is mounted in the housing I0 in theidentical manner shown in Figures 1 and 2. It is obvious, in thisconstruction also, that in the event of the failure of the anti-frictionbearings, :the stud 2| is adapted to rotate about its own axis on theconical bearing surfaces f 35 the stud and 38 of the seating element 31and/ r 'on the segmental spherical surface 39 of the seating element 31and the segmental spherical surface I8 of the'housing.

The improved joint construction described 40 above has many advantages,principal aiong which is the elimination of any substantial fric- 5 tionbetween the moving parts and the safety factor permitting other bearingsurfaces to come into action in the event of failure of the antifrictionelements. The rotation of the stud about its own axis is independent ofany. degree of frictional resistance to a tiltingor angular movement.

The taper of the frusto-conical bearing portion of the stud member 2imay be throughout a wide range. It is evident that if the angle of taperbe increased,lthe frictional A component of the force of thespring-urged cap 2l is greater than when the bearing surfaces approach astraight cylindrical shape. The antifriction elements interposed betweenthe frustoconical bearing surfaces of the stud and the inside of theseat element largely eliminate friction between the stud and the housingbut if it o0 is desired to somewhat increase the friction to resistrotary movement of the stud about its own axis, the taper of the bearingsurface may be increased. as pointed out above, to resist a turningmovement.

At the same time, the spring pressure against the stud end contributesdirectly to the resistance of the stud against angular or tiltingmovement. While the anti-friction elements tend to eliminate frictionbetween the stud and -housing in rotary movement of the stud about itsown axis, the tilting orangular movements about the stud can be resisteddirectly by increasing the spring pressure.

The wide range of tilting action by u the tie rod joint of thisinvention renders the varied joint particularly useful in automotivevehicles having independently sprung front wheels each provided with anindividual tie rod. In the tie rod ball joints of the prior art, thesame set of bearing surfaces took care of both rotary and angular ortilting movement and therefore no independent adjustment of the degreeof frictional resistance to the two movements was possible. However, inthe tie rod joints of this invention, as pointed out above, the twotypes of movement are borne by separate bearing surfaces which can beseparately adjusted.

We are aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction 'may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention', and we. therefore, do notpurposelimiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A joint comprising a stud having a frustocomcal bearing portion and asegmental spherical end, a housing having an inner segmental sphericalbearing surface, a seat member disposed between said stud and housinghaving an outer segmental spherical bearing surfaceengaging the bearingsurface of said housing and an inner frusto-conical bearing surfacespaced from said stud, anti-friction bearing means between said stud andsaid seat member, a movable member slidably mounted in the housinghaving a depressed segmental spherical portion for receivingbearingsurface engaging said housing bearing surface, a rounded end portion onsaid stud and a spring urged cap engaging said end to hold the stud andseat element in operative position within the housing.

3. In a` joint having a housing with inside walls defining at one endthereof a segmental spherical bearing surface, a stud extending freelyfrom said 'combination of anti-friction elements rotatably mountedbetween the stud bearing surface. and the internal bearing surface ofthe seating element, a cap slidably mounted in the housing hav- .ing adepressed central portion for receiving the rounded end 4of the stud,and spring means urg ing ,said cap against the stud end for maintainingthe joint elements in proper bearing engagement.

4. A joint comprising a stud having a frusto- A conical head portion anda rounded end surface below said head portioma housing having an innerdsegmental spherical bearing surface, a scat member disposed between.said stud head and housing having .an outer segmental spherical bearing'surface engaging the bearing surface of said housing and an innermisto-conical bearing surface spaced from the stud head, said stud head,bearing surfaces of the seating element and bearing surface of thehousing converging in the same general direction, anti-friction hearingmeans between said stud head andsaid seat member, a retainer memberslidably mounted-in the housing having a, vcentral portion thereof inbearing engagement with the rounded end surtainer member auinst saidstud surface in the direction of convergence of said bearing surfaces ofthe stud head, seating element and housing and a retainer cover forsaidsprinz means ae- 5 cured in said housing.

